Anime Rocks: Ergo Proxy’s opening

by bateszi
| February 17, 2018

I thought I would write about my favourite anime openings and endings, but where to start? I trawled through some recent anime, but if I’m honest, they weren’t doing it for me. I love all different types of music, but in my heart of hearts, I’m a rock fan, and it feels like most recent anime is skewing towards Jpop. I’m not feeling it. I needed to go further back, to the winter of 2006 and a certain dystopian science fiction anime called Ergo Proxy.

The song is Kiri by MONORAL.

Although I’ve always liked this song, it’s the way that it syncs with the OP’s animation that gets me every time. Man, that gothic aesthetic, those facial expressions. It’s perfect. Ergo Proxy was certainly no masterpiece (it’s due a re-watch sometime, perhaps?) but I keep coming back to this, proof enough that a great opening can endure.

12 years is a long time ago, a lifetime in anime. Ergo Proxy was animated at Manglobe, which was shuttered in 2015 after going bankrupt. Manglobe’s first 3 series were Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy and Michiko & Hatchin, they began wildly ambitious and exciting, creating original anime that banked on the talents of the people involved.

One of the most talented of that era was Kazuto Nakazawa, the man behind the key animation for Ergo Proxy’s OP. His style is unmistakable, full of dramatic postures, glowing eyes and fluid camera angles. Writing this post sent me on a YouTube binge and I remembered that Nakazawa also worked on Blood+’s great second OP. Mostly though, I just wanted to share my love for his short anime from 2002, Kigeki.

A story about a little girl and a book-loving vampire in Ireland. Watching it now is as exciting as it was back then. Animated at Studio 4C, which is another blast from the past!